


Bad Timing

by Fuinixe



Series: Febuwhump 2021 [19]
Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Allergies, Bisexual Booker | Sebastien le Livre, Booker | Sebastien le Livre Whump, Coma, Comatose Nile Freeman, Divorced Booker | Sebastien le Livre, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Hospitals, Love Confessions, M/M, Mentioned Andy | Andromache of Scythia, Mentioned Quynh | Noriko, Multi, Nile Freeman Whump, Other, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, the USA's ugly Frankenstein monster of a healthcare system
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-16 12:20:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29576001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fuinixe/pseuds/Fuinixe
Summary: Joe, Nicky, and Booker are in a triad. Nile is in a coma and Booker is visiting her.Joe and Nicky bring Booker food from the hospital cafeteria, unaware that it has almond flour in it, and he has a bad reaction.While his face is all swollen, Nile wakes up.(AKA: How many friends' prompts can I hit in one go and still make it work?)
Relationships: Booker | Sebastien le Livre & Nile Freeman & Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani & Nicky | Nicolo di Genova, Booker | Sebastien le Livre/Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolo di Genova, Booker | Sebastien le Livre/Nile Freeman
Series: Febuwhump 2021 [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2143242
Comments: 8
Kudos: 24
Collections: febuwhump 2021





	Bad Timing

**Author's Note:**

> Hitting three alt prompts in one go: Coma, allergies, and "please come back."

Booker hasn’t felt this unsettled in a long time.

This whole thing just feels _painfully_ wrong. People like Nile aren’t supposed to be in situations like this. People so vibrant that they make entire rooms, entire moments seem supersaturated in color, hyperreal like little movies -- people like that shouldn’t lie deathly still in hospital beds, with cords and sensors draped all over them, faces slack and hands motionless.

 _Please come back,_ he thinks at her. _Nile, you have to come back._

It shouldn’t be this way.

For a moment, he thinks _I wish it were me instead._ Imagines, longingly, for just a moment, that he could switch places with her. He thinks about what his therapist would say to that.

_It’s okay to have moments of self-deprecation. That’s natural and common._

_What’s important is recognizing the distorted cognitions for what they are and showing yourself the same level of compassion you’d give to one of your friends or partners._

_What will you tell yourself, the next time you feel unworthy?_

_“Claire’s decision to leave me says more about her than it does about me. I am a good father, and I strive to be a better one every day. I have people who love me. I have a life worth living.”_

_That’s good, Sebastien._

Booker pulls himself out of his reverie when he hears Joe and Nicky enter Nile’s hospital room, each carrying a loaded cafeteria tray. Joe sets his on the bedside table and leans in to wrap his arms around Booker from behind and kiss him on the cheek. Nicky rests his cafeteria tray on Nile’s blanketed legs and rolls over the wheeled metal table from the other, unoccupied hospital bed.

“You guys don’t have to stay here, you know,” Booker says, although his hands gripping Joe’s forearms where they’re crossing his chest belie his words. “I know how much you hate hospital food, Nicky.”

Joe squeezes him again and then pulls up a chair to sit between Booker and the table Nicky’s moved his tray to. “Don’t be ridiculous, _habib albi._ We would tolerate a lot more than some bad food to keep our boyfriend company.” Booker feels his face flush. It’s still such a trip to hear the words of endearment that they’ve always extended to each other directed at him as well, to say nothing of the way _our boyfriend_ makes him feel, warm and valuable and possessed.

“Besides, the food does not look so bad today,” Nicky says, optimistically, eyeing the breaded...trout? he has on his plate. “The vegetables are the right color, anyway.”

Joe passes Booker a plate and he has to agree with Nicky. The vegetables do look appealing, and his standards happen to be _much_ lower than Nicky’s, though he’s gotten good at cooking a lot of meals for himself and the kids in the past year. He lifts a bite of fish to his lips and chews. 

“How was the store today?” Joe asks him after they’ve all taken a few minutes to eat and take the edge off their hunger.

Booker sighs heavily. “Not great. I could barely concentrate on anything, thinking about her here, checking my phone every three minutes in case she’d woken up. A customer came in to make a return without a receipt and got really pushy, and I just...lost it with them. I’m not proud of it.” He looks over to gauge Joe’s reaction, and catches the meaningful look that Joe is currently exchanging with Nicky across Nile’s bed.

“ _Tesoro_ ,” Nicky starts hesitantly. “Have you thought...about telling Nile how you feel? When she awakens?”

“What?” Booker furrows his brow. “What do you mean? How I feel about what? Rude customers?”

Joe rests a warm hand on Booker’s knee. “How you feel about _her,_ Booker,” Joe says, as if it should be obvious. 

“That I care for her? She knows that. We’re good friends.” 

Nicky and Joe exchange another look. He can’t see Joe’s face well, but Nicky is raising an eyebrow.

“Book. You know we won’t be jealous, right?” Joe asks.

“Wait. You guys think I should -- that I should _ask out_ Nile?” He chuckles incredulously. “Don’t you think that would be pushing my luck a little bit? I mean, I already know how much I hit the jackpot with you two -- don’t start, Joe,” he chides, wagging a finger at Joe, who’s opened his mouth to argue. “Besides, I couldn’t -- I couldn’t give her the amount of attention she deserves, between the store during the week and the kids on weekends, and you two…”

“Don’t you think she should be the judge of that?” Nicky asks, gently.

“It’s obvious you’re in love with her,” Joe adds. “That’s not the kind of secret that’s fun to keep. You can’t tell us you haven’t thought about it, at least a little.”

He has. Those first horrifying twelve hours after the car crash it was a thought he kept returning to, worrying over it. _If she never wakes up. She’ll never know. I’ll never get a chance to kiss her, to touch her hips, to bring her breakfast in bed._

But those thoughts had seemed unbearably selfish, and he had banished them.

“I’m not breaking up with you guys. I could never. I waited too long.”

When he’d first realized the depths of his feelings for them, he’d confessed it to only one person all those years ago: his now-ex-wife. She’d shrugged, said, “I don’t blame you. They are pretty hot. You’d better not cheat on me, though.” He’d agreed, and that was that. It hadn’t come up again.

Booker thinks again, scratching idly at his neck, that she hadn’t really understood his confession in the first place.

Joe seeks out Booker’s free hand and clasps it. “We obviously don’t mind sharing, Book. And I don’t think Nile would hate it, either. She was in a poly relationship in college.”

“Really?” That was news to Booker. His face feels warm and tingly from excitement. Maybe this would actually work. Maybe he _should_ tell her. 

Nicky rises from his chair and comes around the bed to stand behind Booker’s chair, resting a cool, broad palm on his forehead. “Booker? How do you feel?”

Nicky did this sometimes, fussed over people. Booker figures it’s just a carryover from his job as an EMT. He rolls his eyes fondly. “Fine. Warm, I guess? But fine.” 

Nicky places his hand under Booker’s chin and tilts his face up so that Nicky can look down at him. “Not itchy?” 

Booker’s hand lifts unconsciously up to his neck again. “A little itchy, yeah. Why?” Actually, now that he is paying closer attention to his body, he realizes he feels more than just a little itchy. He scratches furiously at his skin. Ah, no.

“ _Cazzo_ ,” Nicky swears. “Joe, get Booker’s epipen, would you?” Joe springs out of his seat and starts searching the area surrounding Nile’s bed for Booker’s messenger bag. “Booker, love, you’re red and spotty.” Nicky circles around and nudges Booker’s chair back so that he can look at Booker’s face without making him crane his head back. “I thought we checked the ingredients but --”

“Book, I can’t find your bag,” Joe says, sounding a little frantic. 

He winces. “Uh, I might have left it in my car?” Joe digs through Booker’s coat pockets, grabs his car keys, and rushes out to the parking lot without another word. 

Nicky holds Booker’s hands in his and rubs his thumbs against the backs of them soothingly. “Not to worry. Worst comes to worst, we are already in a hospital,” he jokes.

“Honestly, Nicky, I swear I’m usually better at taking care of myself than this.”

“I know you are. But you have been under a lot of stress the past couple days. It is okay to need help.” Nicky’s hands holding both of his feel so good. He tries to concentrate on that sensation rather than the feeling of his eyes watering and his throat starting to swell up.

“It is our fault, too. I read all the ingredients on the food cards but I must have missed the almond! I’m so sorry, sweetheart.” 

“So weird,” Booker croaks. “What would there even be almond in?”

“The trout breading, maybe?” Nicky asks. “I do not know. You see, I am not _just_ a food snob! This is the real reason I prefer home cooking,” he says with a little smile. “So much easier to keep my lovers’ food halal and safe from allergens.”

 _My lovers. Fuck._ Booker smiles back at Nicky, watery eyed. 

“Booker, I’m getting nervous. You do not look good. Can I call the nurse?”

Booker shakes his head firmly. “No. Don’t want to pay hospital prices,” he rasps. “Health insurance for small business owners…” he shakes his head again, unable to finish his sentence. He needs to focus on breathing. 

Nicky frowns. “I understand, but if you pass out, I am calling the nurse and you won’t be conscious to stop me. I can’t have your wonderful brain getting damaged.”

Booker nods his understanding and squeezes Nicky’s hands. It is so hard not to start scratching himself all over.

They hear the squeaking sound of sneakers pounding down the tiled hallway, followed by Joe rushing into the room, breathing heavily. “Found it,” he puffs, handing the epipen to Nicky. Nicky tips it out of the case, pulls off the safety cap, and without preamble, jams the tip into the side of Booker’s thigh under the armrest, holding it flush against his skin for several seconds. Booker wonders if all the patients Nicky has ever treated felt this swept away by his competence and the surety of his motions. 

“That might not be enough, you know,” Nicky warns him, staring into his eyes seriously. “You might still need treatment.” 

Booker nods, not quite able to talk yet. Nicky holds Booker’s wrist in one hand and eyes his wrist watch, tracking his heartbeats. Joe collapses back into his chair and pulls Booker’s discarded plate into his lap. “I think this means I get to finish your dinner, yes?” he says with a dimpled grin. Booker just shakes his head at him, amused.

When he can finally speak, his first words are of gratitude. “Thanks, guys.”

Nicky, fingers still covering his pulse, just blinks at him. “Do not mention it.”

“You’re welcome,” Joe says, cheekily. “I don’t think I’ve run that fast since high school track.”

“Hm?” says a new, sleepy voice, and they all startle before standing abruptly, crowding around Nile’s bed.

“Nile?” Nicky asks, softly. Booker grabs her hand. Her eyelashes flutter open. He has never seen anything so beautiful as her eyes in that moment, even dazed and bleary as they are.

“H -- what -- where’m I?”

“You’re in the hospital, _habibti_ ,” Joe answers. “You were in an accident.”

“Joe?”

“Yes, and Nicky and Booker.”

Nile turns her head until she sees Booker, and she smiles. “Booker! Shouldn’t you be at the store?”

“It’s late, _chérie._ The store is closed.”

“What? How long have I been out?”

“You were in a coma for nearly thirty-six hours,” he tells her, gently. The back of her hand is so soft underneath his palm.

“ _Wow_ ,” she whispers.

“How was Oz?” he jokes, feebly.

She quirks a smile at him. “Well, you were there, and you, and you,” she says to Joe and Nicky. “And Toto too.”

“Do you remember the crash, Nile?” Nicky asks.

“I don’t...I don’t think so,” she answers. “Did anybody else get hurt?”

“ _Sí_. The person who hit you.” 

“Oh. Are they…?”

“Alive, yes,” Nicky tells her.

“Unfortunately,” Booker growls under his breath.

“Did somebody feed Mika?” Nile asks, inquiring after her cat.

“Andy and Quynh are taking care of her.” Booker answers. She squints at him. “What?”

“Book...what _happened_ to your _face_?” she asks.

His hand flies up to touch his face. His lips feel swollen, his eyelids puffy. “Ah. I, uh. Nicky and Joe accidentally fed me almonds.”

She raises an eyebrow. “That true?”

“Yes,” Nicky admits with exasperation. “The cooks at the cafeteria could not merely content themselves with cooking terrible food! They also had to try to kill our boyfriend!”

Nile laughs, a wide grin lighting up her face, and Booker’s heart skips a beat. “Well, as awful as I’m sure the food is, I’m starving and I would eat just about anything right now.”

Joe and Nicky pull back immediately. “Certainly, _sorrelina._ We will get you something to eat.” Joe catches Booker’s gaze before he leaves and shoots him an overly pointed look.

Unfortunately, Nile is extremely nosy and already much more awake than somebody who’s recently awoken from a coma has any right to be. “What was that about?” she asks, flipping her hand over beneath Booker’s and lacing her fingers with his.

“Uh…” Booker trails off. “I don’t...maybe now isn’t the best time…”

“‘Kay, now I _really_ want to know,” Nile announces. “Tell me tell me tell me. Come on, I was in an awful car crash that put me into a _coma._ Don’t withhold secrets from coma girl!”

Booker can’t help but chuckle and shake his head sheepishly, staring down at his lap. “I just narrowly avoided anaphylactic shock, you know! Don’t I get to be, I don’t know, allergy boy?”

Nile shakes her head back and forth against her pillow emphatically. “No. Lame. Totally lame. Coma girl trumps allergy boy any day of the week and twice on Sundays.”

He looks up at her. Just like this, smiling at him in a hospital gown, oxygen tubes running out of her nose, she is still radiant and joyful. Too good. Too good for him.

 _“Don’t you think she should be the judge of that?”_ Nicky’s voice echoes in his head.

Booker clears his throat. “Well, I, uh.” No, he wants to do this right. As right as he can with watery eyes and an itchy nose, anyway. He clasps both of his hands around hers and meets her gaze, steadily. Her face is serious now, looking at him expectantly. 

“Nile Freeman, you are the most delightful, most beautiful woman I know, and every moment I spend around you is a cherished gift.” Her eyes are very wide. He barrels onwards. “I was terrified that you wouldn’t wake up, and I’d never get to tell you, how very much I want the chance to make you happy.” He pauses to cough into his shoulder. “Nicky and Joe said you might not be totally opposed to polyamory in theory, so. Well. Nile, when you get out of here, would you do me the extreme honor of letting me take you out on a date?”

She smiles widely, a new smile, just a little different from all the ones he’s seen before. “Sebastien le Livre,” she begins, mimicking him, and he suppresses a grin. “I would love to go on a date with you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Headcanons that didn't make it into the fic: Booker has three kids, all under the age of five; Nile does data analysis for an NGO that interfaces with foreign governments on water sanitation and vaccination policies etc. (and has good health insurance through her job); Joe makes money doing contract work web development but considers himself an artist first and foremost; Booker met Joe and Nicky through a "networking for immigrants" club; Joe and Nicky want to buy a house with Booker but are worried such a living situation might hurt him if Claire takes him to court again to renegotiate custody of their kids :(
> 
> This is my very first time writing Joe/Nicky/Booker AND Book of Nile! Leave a comment? :-D


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